Overview

SSI cares about the environment. The concept of mobile desalination is itself intrinsically 'environmentally-conscious', and SSI is always looking for other ways that their solutions can employ new technologies and ideas which have the potential to minimise environmental impact.

Energy recovery systems

SSI employs the latest energy recovery systems to minimise the amount of energy used in the desalination process.

Power sources

SSI actively supports the use of renewable power sources such as wind, solar and tidal - and actively explores employing such resources in all desalination projects.

These can be used independently or in combination with conventional power sources, depending on the availability, suitability and the economic circumstances. SSI is currently developing fully renewable desalination solutions, which will be operational by 2015.

Dealing with brine

Brine is the natural by-product of any desalination process. Whilst brine has some useful commercial applications (it can be used in large scale heat transfer at refrigeration plants and for preserving and pickling foodstuffs), most produced by desalination plants has to be disposed of.

Returning brine to the ocean is the most obvious solution, but careful consideration has to be made as to how and where this can be conducted safely, as the introduction of this highly concentrated seawater has the potential to harm delicate marine ecosystems. This is particularly important in regions with low turbidity and high evaporation that have already elevated salinity.

SSI has devoted significant resources to the issue of brine disposal and has developed and designed its own patented deep sea brine dispersal system, and it also considers by-product management as a key factor in the planning of a desalination project.